Probe to address conflicting witness reports, new police chief says
The first gunshot got Ben Doyle's attention.
Looking from a rooftop balcony, he saw a man walk slowly to the middle of Granville Street. There was another burst of fire, and the man twisted and fell to the pavement.
"It's not something I really wanted to see," Doyle said yesterday, watching as firefighters sprayed the man's blood from the street's yellow centre line. "It was a loud, scary scene."
Pedestrians stroll past police tape on Granville near 16th Avenue, where police shot a 39-year-old man dead.
The shooting of the 39-year-old by police was described in a similar way by police Chief Jim Chu, on his first day as the city's top cop.
At 9:30 p.m. Monday, police received a 911 call reporting an assault by two men on a third person near Granville and 16th Avenue.
Chu said the first officers to arrive saw a "very large" man seated at the bus stop on the east side of Granville. He turned away from them, but they could see something shiny in his hand. It turned out to be a claw hammer.
"This man complied with our commands and dropped the hammer," said Chu. "When he was told to lie on the ground, he started to lie down but didn't completely comply.
"One of the officers at the scene approached the man and attempted to handcuff him. This man bolted up and swung a chain, striking our officer in the head."
With one officer unconscious, the man allegedly swung the heavy lock and chain again, hitting another officer in the face.
Then he turned his attention to three other officers.
"He advanced at these officers swinging his chain," said Chu. "These officers backed up about half a block and, at that point, he was shot by these officers."
He died at the scene. Chu would not release the victim's name.
The cop who shot him has been a Vancouver officer for three years.
"Our thoughts and sympathies go to the family of the deceased," said Chu. "Calls like this do take a heavy toll on the officers involved."
Chu said he visited one of the injured officers in hospital. The 17-year officer had stitches and was later discharged.
"The side of his head was actually quite swollen," Chu said.
The other injured officer, with two years' experience, was treated at the scene.
Chu wouldn't say how many shots were fired or from what distance.
Asked about conflicting witness reports that the victim was crawling or had his hands in the air when he was shot, Chu said those questions will be answered "as the investigation progresses."
Chu said the officers involved were not armed with Tasers, but another officer was getting a non-lethal weapon out of the trunk of his car when the shooting happened.
"We attend thousands of fight calls every year," said Chu. "What happened here . . . happened in a matter of seconds. We had an officer down and unconscious. Our officers are trained quite well, and they took the option they had to take."
On Granville Street yesterday, neighbours and shoppers said the shooting didn't shock them, but the location was a surprise.
Gillian Hervey said she heard about six shots as she was watching television.
"After the gunshots, we didn't want to go out there," she said. "I was kind of freaked out to know those shots killed the guy."
Traffic was re-routed Tuesday after a man was shot dead by police officers.
Photograph by : Ian Smith, Vancouver Sun
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